Jiro Minami

Jiro Minami (10 August 1874-5 December 1955) was the commander of the Kwantung Army from 10 December 1934 to 6 March 1936, succeeding Takashi Hishikari and preceding Nobuyoshi Muto. He previously served as Minister of War from April to December 1931, succeeding Kazushige Ugaki and preceding Sadao Araki.

Biography
Jiro Minami was born on 10 August 1874 in Hiji, Oita Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1895 and was a company commander of the Japanese 1st Cavalry Regiment during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905. In 1919, he was promoted to Major-General, and in 1934-1936 he led the Kwantung Army in the years between the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Second Sino-Japanese War. From 1936 to 1942, he was Governor-General of Korea, succeeding Kazushige Ugaki and preceding Kuniaki Koiso, and he outlawed all but one Korean-language newspaper in the country, as he tried to impose Japanese culture on Japanese Korea and curb liberal reforms. In 1945, he was arrested by the United States and was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes, but in 1954 he was released due to poor health and died a year later.